District of Columbia

Since 2011, the Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project has served on an Ad Hoc Committee at DC Superior Court designed to examine causes of wrongful convictions and how DC compares to other jurisdictions in prevention and correction of wrongful convictions. She also serves as a policy advisor to the first Conviction Integrity Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

In addition to representing DC clients, MAIP has also been active in other DC cases and projects related to wrongful convictions. In 2013, MAIP filed an amicus brief in a case involving the interpretation of the Innocence Protection Act, and in 2014 the U.S. Attorney’s Office asked MAIP to review more than 80 cases involving flawed hair and fiber testimony.

Maryland

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project has filed several amicus briefs in Maryland. In 2014, MAIP filed a brief in a case involving the proper standard for evaluating eyewitness testimony. In 2015, MAIP filed briefs in Maryland v. Seward and Maryland v. Yonga, two cases interpreting the Writ of Actual Innocence.

Virginia

In 2009, the Department of Forensic Science, the Forensic Science Board, and the Virginia State Crime Commission asked MAIP to serve as a contact point for more than 800 individuals whose DNA was being tested as part of the Old Case Testing Project in Virginia. More recently, MAIP was asked to oversee the review of nearly 400 cases from the Old Case Testing Project in which the DNA results were inconclusive. We are also working with the Department of Forensic Science as it sets up a review of old cases involving flawed hair testimony and a review to determine whether there are convictions based on flawed blood-typing testimony.

The Department of Public Safety asked our Executive Director to be part of their 2015 Blue Ribbon Panel Discussion about the failure to disclose exculpatory information and how that leads to wrongful convictions.